Administration Proposes Changes to Anti-Kickback Rule

Our members who have revenue sharing programs with corporate partners will be interested in proposed changes to the anti-kickback rule reported upon by Politico Pulse. In coming weeks, ANCOR staff will review the proposal and report back to our membership on key points.

As written by Politico Pulse from the rally in Minnesota last week where the Administration announced the proposal:

“Domestic Policy Council Director Joe Grogan, HHS Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan and CMS Administrator Seema Verma are slated to be in attendance, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the plans.

The background: In 2018, HHS announced a regulatory revamp aimed at altering policies viewed as standing in the way of transitioning to value-based care. Late last week, two proposed regulations cleared OMB aimed at overhauling the physician self-referral law, the anti-kickback statute and rules surrounding beneficiary inducements.

The administration picked Minnesota for the event in part because it’s home to the kind of providers and medtech organizations that may gain more flexibility under the revamp. The event also is a warmup act, of sorts, for Thursday’s campaign rally featuring President Donald Trump. The regulations are a priority for the administration, which has issued requests for information and held listening sessions with a variety of health care groups. The revamp has bipartisan buy in, with former Obama administration officials also expressing interest.

A balancing act: The challenge is ensuring any new rules still prevent fraud and abuse in the health system. Administration officials say they’re cognizant of that, ‘but rightly reformed, these regulations, and the exceptions and safe harbors within them can and should be reoriented, I believe, to help us transition to a much better kind of health care system,’ Hargan, a driving force behind the effort, said in May.”